Kalevi Sorsa, at 73; Finnish ex-premier

HELSINKI -- Finland's longest-serving prime minister, Kalevi Sorsa, died in his home Jan. 16, the Social Democratic Party said. He was 73.

No cause of death was given.

Mr. Sorsa headed four coalition governments from 1972 to 1987 and led the Social Democrats, Finland's largest party, for 12 years.

He was a lawmaker from 1970 to 1991 and a foreign minister in the early 1970s and in the late 1980s. After leaving Parliament, he moved onto the governing board of the Bank of Finland.

Mr. Sorsa also worked for the United Nations as a program specialist in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization from 1959 to 1965.